


All Alone In The Dark

by embarrassingresultofmyfreetime



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: 13 and the Master do the mindmeld thing, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by valc0's art of 13 and the Master on tumblr, Takes place sometime after Skyfall p1&2 but before The Timeless Children, at least as happy as it could be considering how these two are, image and link below, warnings for blood mention and minor violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:35:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23054044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embarrassingresultofmyfreetime/pseuds/embarrassingresultofmyfreetime
Summary: While heading back to Earth, the Doctor hears someone calling for her help.She tracks it back to the Master- injured yet alive- and finds him trapped in his own head, reliving his last confrontation with The Time Lord Council before the destruction of Gallifrey.Inspired by this incredible art:byvalc0!
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor & The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 62





	All Alone In The Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Please check out [valc0's art on tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/valc0) they're amazing!!
> 
> This was written before The Timeless Children aired so no spoilers but also it makes sense within the canon anyways.  
> Warnings for: mentions of blood and injuries.

The Doctor felt something calling to her- something different than anything she had ever felt before- gnawing away at her psychic senses. Usually when something appealed to her abilities in this way, it felt akin to a hand reaching out- asking for help and offering to lead the way to the person who needed it. It usually felt like the sound of a phone ringing in the distance, one that she could choose to either pick up or simply ignore.

This call was different. This one felt like desperate hands clawing against the front door of her mind, persisting even as their nails broke and bled. Behind the call was a whirlwind of emotions: both the clumsy, shaking hands of a child afraid of a thunderstorm and the hands of a well-versed adult being mercilessly pulled under crashing waves- both feeling cold and alone.

The Doctor had been on her way to Earth, but this feeling was too strong to ignore. It scrambled for her as if she was the only person who might save its messenger from agonizing despair.

Without a second thought, without any form of hesitation, she changed the Tardis's trajectory to follow the source. To find the phone and pick it up before it stopped ringing.

She had to know who it was, she had to help them. She felt it as strongly as if it were her own mind.

The Tardis had barely finished materializing before she tumbled out its doors.

And what she found... was one of the last things she ever wanted to see.

The Master's body laid still at her feet, sprawled out as if he had fallen there.

Her Tardis had landed in the middle of the Master's living room. Starlight danced in through the windows of the dim house-like structure, entwining with the gentle amber and harsh red lights his own Tardis produced. They were deep in space- the Doctor could tell- where there were no sentient life forms for thousands of lightyears in all directions.

This passed through the Doctor's mind in an instant as she collapsed before him.

The Master's face was hidden away, turned to the ground, his hands clamped tightly to either side of his head. He was still wearing the same purple coat over the blue and orange striped suit she had seen the last time they'd met. However, his clothes were infinitely more damaged than before, every inch seemingly scrapped, torn, or drenched in the blood soaking through even the outermost layer of his attire.

The only conclusion she could reach was that the Master had been injured in the Kasaavin world- as punishment for his betrayal- and subsequently thrown back to the real world to be left for dead. His Tardis must have found him and brought him out there- in space- with no idea what else to do.

He was the source of the call- but why? All things being honest, physical pain was nothing new to him.

The Doctor continued her search for an answer by attempting to move his hands from his face. She quickly realized that it was impossible to do so in his current state. The Master's mind appeared to be somewhere else entirely, but he was far from unconscious. The Master's body was tense, as if locked into place. The Doctor could feel the emotions emanating from his mind- bordering on overwhelming. He was teetering on the edge of unrecoverable despair.

It hurt just to look at him, but the Doctor was determined to help her old friend.

She gently folded up the edge of his shirt to examine his injuries. He was bruised thoroughly, all the way from his shoulder, over his ribs, and to his waist. The injuries were bleeding wherever the blunt force of impact had managed to break the surface.

The harsh image of his body being repeatedly thrown into the large double-helix pillars that defined the Kasaavin world quickly passed through her mind. An agonizing punishment, no doubt.

But that wasn't the memory the Master was currently trapped in. There was something much more painful happening in his mind.

The Doctor hesitated and tried to prepare herself for the worst; but the Master's mind held something more agonizing than she could have ever imagined.

Her hands connected with the Master's face and in an instant, she found herself back on Gallifrey.

She was standing before the high council, five terrifying faces staring down at: The Master.

She had been right, the Master's tormentor was a memory.

Neither the Master- nor any of the five intimidatingly self-righteous faces staring down at him- took any notice of her arrival.

"You knew about this all along, didn't you!" The Master was shouting in the full, echoing voice that his latest regeneration had granted him. His words echoed from the far wall to every other and back again, amplifying until the room was filled with his accusation. It echoed, his voice unwavering, and yet deeply ingrained agony was hiding behind every fearless word.

"How could you keep this a secret! Our very lives are a lie- every one of us on this despicable planet! Our identities as Time Lords are nothing more than glorified, self-given titles! All this time, we've categorized ourselves as higher lifeforms and yet you've built your false empire upon a foundation of bones and lies. I see now the reason you've always refused to interfere with the world outside your precious bubble," he spat. "It's because you know you shouldn't have this power. You know we're wrong to exist!"

The lead gallifreyan, the one who stood front and center on the board who was seated several stories up, reached out a gloved hand.

The energy from it sent the Master tumbling backwards, as if a shockwave of energy had hit him square in the chest. The Doctor winced at the way his body crashed against the golden floor. He rolled painfully to his side to sit up, his teeth clenched in undoubtable distress. He tried to make it up to his feet. He did so with tremendous effort. His jaw locked, his eyes blazing and furious. If he wasn't angry before- there was nothing that could talk him down now.

Every movement of every muscle was deliberate. Every muscle moving purposeful even as it projected waves of agony from his mind out in every direction.

This wasn't how psychic powers were to be used, the Doctor noted. Sharing information and emotions this way was meant to be private, careful- but the Master was now emanating such a chaotic energy that even the high council seemed to feel the reverb of what they had done to him.

The council quickly regained their composure and stared down at him. The lead member sat down once more.

"You can not be permitted to spread such lies among our people," the lead said cooly.

"Lies?!" The Master screamed.

Something within him was blazing. The Doctor didn't know what the timelords had done in their attempt to shut him up, but she could see that it had been meant to keep him down.

That fact that it only enraged him further clearly made the members of the high council quite nervous.

The Doctor very nearly smiled. She probably would have if she didn't have the soul-crushing feeling that this wasn't going to have a happy ending.

"Gallifrey deserves to know what we are! What you are! What you did-"

Another blast was sent, this time from the staff of the lead council member. A hot, blue energy barreling into the figure far below.

It sent the Master reeling. He crashed heavily to the floor, and the force of the impact sent him sliding until his now-limp body nearly hit the back wall.

"As we said," another of the council announced, "we can not allow you to say such things."

"You knew-" the Master said just loudly enough for the Doctor to hear, "You knew all along. Inviting me here... was just to get rid of me. To get rid of the evidence."

The Doctor raced out to him. She pulled him up into her arms. She wasn't entirely sure if he understood that she was there- for he didn't say anything to indicate that he did- but he did reach for her.

She pulled his head against his chest and hid his face with her arms as she wrapped them around the back of his neck. His hands found her middle and reached up her back, his fingers desperately clinging to her as if he couldn't possibly get close enough.

He was crying, silently, she began to realize. It was evident from the way his face stayed hidden from everyone and the way his shoulders gently shook with each breath.

She held his head to her hearts and did her best to protect his mind- and even the terrifying knowledge that had ignited it all- from this nightmare of a world.

She sat there for a terribly long moment. Glaring up at the gallifreyan council, looking over their cold, uncaring faces, their dramatic displays of power evident in their form of their attire and the gallifreyan words carved into the walls before them. The circular symbols translated into vows of the pursuit of knowledge and peace in Gallifrey, but to the Doctor- it might as well have been blasphemy. For their promises were all empty lies.

She glared, but she didn't do anything more. It didn't matter anyways. They were all surely dead by now.

This was all the Master's mind, reliving this tiny portion of his life and tormenting himself with it over and over again.

She didn't want to know what he did next. If he had truly destroyed Gallifrey, then she dared not find out.

Thankfully, the Master didn't make any attempt to move either. He didn't want to show her, it seemed. He didn't want to show her what happened next.

He just layed there, in an incredible amount of pain.

'Maybe the pain the Kasaavin has inflicted on him had sparked this memory,' she considered briefly.

Regardless, the Doctor soon pulled the plug on the memory.

In the real world, she was sitting there, on the floor of his Tardis with her own ship looming over them a few meters away.

The Master layed there, holding her tightly, while she held his head in her arms. She might not know what information he held, but she did trust that it was very important and very, very real.

The Master's mind quieted now that he had been pulled out of the self-inflicted misery. The Doctor hadn't seen him like this... perhaps ever.

She had never seen him so scared. She had seen him angry and hurt and broken; but not scared.

She didn't like seeing him scared.

"You're safe now," the Doctor told him, "I'll keep you safe until you can stand on your own again."

The Master didn't respond. His mind was too cloudy to so. He was in too much pain to think of much else, but he was quieter now that the Doctor was there.

The Doctor brushed his hair back into place and tried not to tear up herself. Deep down, this only made her more afraid of the truth.

The Master was always so persistent. He was damaged, but he never let himself be truly broken. Seeing him in this was far more difficult than she had expected. But he would pull through, she was sure of it. He always did. He had to.

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone wondering, the title was inspired by lyrics from Goodbye Forever by Volbeat:  
> "All alone in the dark, Move the curtains for once,  
> See the light life has brought, Or goodbye forever  
> Take the arms that embrace, No more being afraid,  
> Feel the sun on your face, Or goodbye forever"
> 
> It reminded me of the Doctor's determination to see goodness in all things and trying to extend this to the Master vs the Master being lost to the darkness in his life. Regardless it's a really good song lol
> 
> -
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated!  
> Thank you so much for reading!! :)


End file.
